DESIGN & ACCESS STATEMENT

Refurbishment & Change of Use of Redundant Barns to Holiday Lets at ‘Lydgate Farm’ Aldwark, Derbyshire.

Location & Site Assessment Lydgate Farm is located in the small hamlet of Aldwark, approximately 1.5km north of Longcliffe and 1.5km west of Grangemill, OS grid reference SK 229 574. Whilst it is primarily a livestock farming operation, they are diversifying by converting a redundant barn into a micro-brewery, which is under construction at present. The Farmhouse is Grade II Listed and the site is curtilage listed.

Objectives Adjacent to the micro-brewery is a redundant roofless barn with a smaller redundant barn attached, which are the subject of this application. The owners, Ian Mauracheea & Jenny Lomas, with to convert and refurbish these two buildings into Holiday Lets, encouraging visitors to sample the delights of the Peak District National Park. Consultations have taken place with the National Park Authority who confirm this would be appropriate development of redundant agricultural buildings. Proposals The buildings in question are approximately 26m long x 5m wide, running roughly east-west, with the smaller barn, at the east end, 11m x 6.5m. The site slopes down 2.5m from west to east, so whilst the main building is single storey at the west end, it is mainly two-storey. The smaller barn is single storey but with steeper roof pitch and two king-post trusses.

It is proposed that the main building (Unit 1) will be converted to a single unit, to sleep up to ten people, to be let to a larger group i.e. two families for example. The smaller barn (Unit 2) will sleep 4, with a ground floor bedroom and shower room and a mezzanine sleeping deck with en-suite toilet.

The barns are constructed in random-coursed Limestone with Gritstone quoins, lintels and cills and these materials will be used for any making good. The gable at the west-end would require re-building, some existing blocked-up openings would be opened-up, but no new openings would be created. All new windows and doors will be in timber with high-build paint finish. The ground floor windows will be inward opening ‘hopper style’.

The majority of the existing slates from Unit 1 have been saved and will be used for the new roof. Unit 2 has one roof face covered with corrugated metal, the other face with Staffordshire Blue plain clay tiles, which have recently been removed and set aside. The entire roof will be re-covered with Staffordshire Blues. The existing roof of Unit 1 had 10 rooflights and the same number of new ‘conservation’ style rooflights will be incorporated into that roof, with 2 additional rooflights to Unit 2, to the sleeping deck. There is no evidence of any protected species within the existing barns. There are some redundant martin nests in Unit 2. The owners have put up several nesting boxes in nearby trees when Unit 1 roof was stripped.

The accommodation will be constructed to the highest standards of thermal efficiency, which will exceed current Building Regulations standards and incorporate a bio-mass heating system, which will be housed in a small extension to the side of unit 1, faced in Limestone.

Access Access to the units will be via an existing farm track, which will be up-graded, leading to the south side of the development, where there will be a parking area for 5 vehicles and landscaped gardens to the units, bounded with dry-stone walling. An existing derelict outbuilding will be refurbished as a Games Room, for the benefit of visitors, but that is in the future and not part of this application.

A Laundry Room will be incorporated into the Micro-Brewery building, for the use of visitors.

No new access onto the existing highway will be required.

Philip A Davies May 2017 (revised July 2017)